Soil Organic Carbon Depletion from Forests to Grasslands Conversion in Mexico: A Review

Deb Raj Aryal, Danilo Enrique Morales Ruiz, César Noé Tondopó Marroquín, René Pinto Ruiz, Francisco Guevara Hernández, José Apolonio Venegas Venegas, Alejandro Ponce Mendoza, Gilberto Villanueva López, Fernando Casanova Lugo, Luis Alfredo Rodríguez Larramendi, Alejandro Ley de Coss, Adalberto Hernández López, Francisco Javier Medina Jonapá, Carlos Alberto Velázquez Sanabria, Alejandro Alcudia Aguilar and Isaí Euán Chi
Additional contact information
Deb Raj Aryal: Facultad de Ciencias Agronómicas, CONACYT-UNACH, Villaflores, Chiapas C.P. 30470, Mexico
Danilo Enrique Morales Ruiz: Cuerpo Académico de Agroforestería Pecuaria, Facultad de Ciencias Agronómicas, Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas, Chiapas C.P. 30470, Mexico
César Noé Tondopó Marroquín: Cuerpo Académico de Agroforestería Pecuaria, Facultad de Ciencias Agronómicas, Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas, Chiapas C.P. 30470, Mexico
René Pinto Ruiz: Cuerpo Académico de Agroforestería Pecuaria, Facultad de Ciencias Agronómicas, Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas, Chiapas C.P. 30470, Mexico
Francisco Guevara Hernández: Cuerpo Académico de Agroforestería Pecuaria, Facultad de Ciencias Agronómicas, Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas, Chiapas C.P. 30470, Mexico
José Apolonio Venegas Venegas: Facultad de Ciencias Agronómicas, CONACYT-UNACH, Villaflores, Chiapas C.P. 30470, Mexico
Alejandro Ponce Mendoza: Independent Consultant, Cristóbal Colón, Mexico City C.P. 53117, Mexico
Gilberto Villanueva López: Departamento de Agroecología, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Unidad Villahermosa, Villahermosa, Tabasco C.P. 86280, Mexico
Fernando Casanova Lugo: Tecnológico Nacional de México, Instituto Tecnológico de la Zona Maya, Othón P. Blanco, Quintana Roo C.P. 77960, Mexico
Luis Alfredo Rodríguez Larramendi: Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas (UNICACH), Sede Villa Corzo, Chiapas C.P. 30520, Mexico
Alejandro Ley de Coss: Cuerpo Académico de Agroforestería Pecuaria, Facultad de Ciencias Agronómicas, Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas, Chiapas C.P. 30470, Mexico
Adalberto Hernández López: Cuerpo Académico de Agroforestería Pecuaria, Facultad de Ciencias Agronómicas, Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas, Chiapas C.P. 30470, Mexico
Francisco Javier Medina Jonapá: Cuerpo Académico de Agroforestería Pecuaria, Facultad de Ciencias Agronómicas, Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas, Chiapas C.P. 30470, Mexico
Carlos Alberto Velázquez Sanabria: Cuerpo Académico de Agroforestería Pecuaria, Facultad de Ciencias Agronómicas, Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas, Chiapas C.P. 30470, Mexico
Alejandro Alcudia Aguilar: Centro del Cambio Global y la Sustentabilidad A. C., Villahermosa, Tabasco C.P. 86080, Mexico
Isaí Euán Chi: Campus Sorocaba, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Sorocaba CEP 18052-780, Sao Paolo, Brazil

Agriculture, 2018, vol. 8, issue 11, 1-15

Abstract: Land use change from forests to grazing lands is one of the important sources of greenhouse gas emissions in many parts of the tropics. The objective of this study was to analyze the extent of soil organic carbon (SOC) loss from the conversion of native forests to pasturelands in Mexico. We analyzed 66 sets of published research data with simultaneous measurements of soil organic carbon stocks between native forests and pasturelands in Mexico. We used a generalized linear mixed effect model to evaluate the effect of land use change (forest versus pasture), soil depth, and original native forest types. The model showed that there was a significant reduction in SOC stocks due to the conversion of native forests to pasturelands. The median loss of SOC ranged from 31.6% to 52.0% depending upon the soil depth. The highest loss was observed in tropical mangrove forests followed by highland tropical forests and humid tropical forests. Higher loss was detected in upper soil horizon (0–30 cm) compared to deeper horizons. The emissions of CO 2 from SOC loss ranged from 46.7 to 165.5 Mg CO 2 eq. ha −1 depending upon the type of original native forests. In this paper, we also discuss the effect that agroforestry practices such as silvopastoral arrangements and other management practices like rotational grazing, soil erosion control, and soil nutrient management can have in enhancing SOC stocks in tropical grasslands. The results on the degree of carbon loss can have strong implications in adopting appropriate management decisions that recover or retain carbon stocks in biomass and soils of tropical livestock production systems.

Keywords: carbon pool; land use change; tropical pasturelands; SOC loss; greenhouse gas mitigation; silvopastoral systems; tropical forest (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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